Lions Gate Teen-Warrior Film ‘Divergent’ Debut Tops Theaters

This image released by Summit Entertainment shows Shailene Woodley, left, and Theo James in a scene from "Divergent." The movie releases on Friday, March 21, 2014. Photographer: Jaap Buitendijk/Summit Entertainment via AP Photo

March 24 (Bloomberg) -- “Divergent,” the first film in
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.’s new teen-warrior series, opened
in first place with sales of $56 million in domestic theaters,
missing estimates.

The film, which has two sequels in pre-production, outdrew
Walt Disney Co.’s “Muppets Most Wanted,” the follow-up to the
2011 movie and the only other picture opening in wide release.
“Muppets” collected $16.5 million for second place, according
to an e-mailed statement yesterday from Rentrak Corp.

“This is the beginning of a new young adult franchise for
Lions Gate,” said Richard Fay, president of domestic
distribution at Lions Gate. “We still have some runway ahead
with spring break. We anticipate a great ultimate gross.”

BoxOffice.com had forecast $54 million in receipts for
“Divergent,” lowered twice from $68 million initially. The
film is a linchpin in efforts by Santa Monica, California-based
Lions Gate to build on the success the studio enjoyed as young
audiences flocked to “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games.” The
weekend total included sales from Thursday, March 20.

For Lions Gate, the film performed as the studio hoped and
highlighted efforts to reach young fans. More boys turned out to
watch the film than the “Hunger Games” or “Twilight,”
according to Fay. The gender split was around 59 percent female
and 41 percent male.

“With this film we have reached a different audience, so
we are always building,” Fay said.

Large Screens

Large-screen formats, such as those from Imax Corp.,
represented more than 16 percent of sales, another indicator of
how well “Divergent” was received by young men, Fay said.

The second film in the series, “Insurgent,” is set to
start filming in May, according to the company, and should be
released March 20, 2015, according to Box Office Mojo.

“Divergent” stars Shailene Woodley as Tris, a young woman
in a society where people are classified on their virtues such
as bravery and intelligence. Woodley, whose films include “The
Descendants,” learns she’s part of a group seen as dangerous
and targeted for annihilation. Theo James is her male co-star
Four.

Like “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games,” “Divergent”
is based on popular young-adult novels. The three “Divergent”
books from Veronica Roth have sold 17.6 million copies.

Analysts predicted the first weekend would be dominated by
fans of the books. According to Lions Gate, only 50 percent of
Divergent’s opening audience had read the book, compared with
three-quarters of the debut audiences of “Twilight” and “The
Hunger Games.”

Iffy Reviews

“Divergent,” which cost about $85 million to make,
according to researcher Box Office Mojo, garnered a 41 percent
positive rating on Rottentomatoes.com, a website that aggregates
reviews by critics. Few favorable notices may limit the appeal
to wider audiences, according to James Marsh, a Piper Jaffray
Cos. analyst in New York. He forecasts sales of about $150
million for the full run in U.S. and Canadian cinemas, a sum the
studio will split with theater operators.

Lions Gate fell 7.9 percent to $27.60 on March 21 after the
studio said early showings of “Divergent” the previous day had
generated $4.9 million in sales. Some analysts had been
expecting the film to open as well as “Twilight,” which earned
$7 million in similar showings.

Its predecessors set high bars. “The Hunger Games”
generated $1.56 billion in worldwide ticket sales with two
films, while five “Twilight” pictures collected $3.34 billion,
according to Box Office Mojo.

Disney’s Muppets

“Muppets Most Wanted” garnered a strong critical
reception, with 77 percent of reviews favorable, according to
Rottentomatoes.com. It came in shy of BoxOffice.com’s forecast
of $17.5 million and less than “The Muppets,” which took in
almost $30 million in its opening weekend in 2011.

The movie, featuring the voices of Ricky Gervais and
“Modern Family” star Ty Burrell, takes the entire cast of the
Muppets on a global tour with mayhem following them as they
become entangled in a European jewel heist.

“God’s Not Dead,” a religious movie in limited debut from
Pure Flix Entertainment, opened in fifth place with $8.6 million
in its debut. The film follows a student whose faith is
challenged by his philosophy professor.

Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” from Fox
Searchlight, collected $7 million as it expanded to 304
theaters. The movie, starring Ralph Fiennes and an ensemble
cast, opened on March 7.

Weekend revenue for the top 10 films rose 2 percent to
$129.8 million from a year earlier, according to Rentrak. So far
in 2014, domestic ticket sales have increased 8.8 percent to
$2.2 billion.

The following table has U.S. movie box-office figures
provided by studios to Rentrak. The amounts are based on gross
ticket sales for March 21 and March 22 and estimates for
yesterday.